THIS IS RACHEL

Rachel is an author, blogger, and dessert activist. This blog has been read internationally by millions, but mainly she is just an ordinary homemaker living in the Midwest with her husband, David, and their three babies. They are currently renovating their 1970's colonial home.

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CROCKPOT TOMATO PASTA SAUCE

January 6, 2015

When we talk about buying a house, David is all over wanting to own land. For lots of reasons, but one is being able to have gardens and maybe even raise animals. He likes the idea of being more self-sufficient and able to supply some of our own food. One of his examples? Growing everything we need to make our own tomato spaghetti sauce. I can agree it does sound fun.

The stuff at the grocery store is pretty cheap, however. There are quite good options for only a few dollars. For me to get on board, I tell him that the cost would have to be extra low from growing crops ourselves.

But in the meantime, I go to the grocery store and purchase the ingredients to make this crockpot pasta sauce. It has a much bolder flavor than what you may be used to from the jars in the pasta aisle!

This is a lot like my own spaghetti sauce recipe, passed on to me from my mom. I always do it in the crock pot, too, though it works just as well simmering on the stove for a while. A hint on making the sauce smooth–why bother dirtying up your food processor? Just used crushed tomatoes instead of diced. (Though for some reason, crushed tomatoes are always harder to find.) The only real difference in this from my recipe is the butter at the end. I’m guessing that makes it taste richer? Oh yeah, and I don’t do red pepper ’cause I don’t like the spicy so much.

Another hint–if you have picky eaters who don’t like the onion or pepper pieces, cut them into large chunks before cooking and then remove them before serving. Also, my mom always uses green peppers, but I personally prefer the mini sweet peppers…they have great flavor.

I love my spaghetti sauce and consider it one of my standard, go-to recipes. It really surprised me when all my friends raved about it so much, because it’s so easy and straightforward–but I guess most of them had never had anything but the canned/jarred kind. How sad–this is so much better!

Ooh, I love how simple this is – something I can throw in the crockpot on a busy day! Growing your own food seems like a great family activity. My parents had a garden plot with strawberries, green beans, peppers, zucchini, etc. while I was growing up and I have many fond childhood memories of helping out in the garden! And I think it may have piqued my taste for vegetables :)